Survivor of murder attempt confronts ex-boyfriend in carjacking trial

Danielle Roland, now 36, survived five gunshot wounds – two to her arm, one to her leg and two to her stomach – and went to federal court Thursday to testify against her ex-boyfriend Gregory Moore in his federal trial on multiple carjacking and gun charges.

They met through a mutual friend on Facebook and dated for about three months before she broke up with him.

It was over for Danielle Roland but she said Gregory Moore would not leave her in peace.

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She said he told her: "Bitch, I'm going to kill you."

After six weeks of nearly constant harassment, as Roland drove up to her Hallandale Beach office with her new beau Johnson St. Louis in the passenger seat, Moore ran at her car and emptied his gun into Roland and St. Louis.

But Roland, now 36, survived five gunshot wounds — two to her arm, one to her leg and two to her stomach. She testified against Moore on Thursday in federal court in West Palm Beach.

When an FBI agent went to escort her into the courtroom, Roland quietly balked for a few moments, inhaling deeply and visibly trying to steel herself to confront the man she said tried to kill her.

Dressed all in black, she walked stiffly and was obviously trying to avoid looking at Moore. When she took her seat in the witness box, she discreetly tried to turn her chair so her back would be turned to him. And for the first 15 minutes of her testimony, she studiously avoided his steady gaze.

Eventually, she looked at him when she identified him as the shooter and then looked away.

Though Moore is facing state charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder in Broward County, that trial has not yet been scheduled.

Moore is being tried on federal carjacking and gun charges linked to what prosecutors say was a dramatic crime spree. Prosecutors say Moore carjacked three vehicles and tried to take control of two additional vehicles as he made his way to the Hallandale Beach insurance office where Roland worked, shot her and her new boyfriend, and then fled. Investigators said his multiple crimes shut down much of Broward County for hours on Dec. 2, 2014.

Speaking very quietly, Roland told jurors, who appeared riveted, that she tried to drive forward and then in reverse to get away from Moore and his gun that day. She said he started shooting as soon as he saw her drive up.

"I was trying to find cover," Roland testified, raising her left arm to show how she tried to shield her face. "I was screaming at him 'Stop, why are you doing this? Stop, we can talk about this.'"

After the fatally wounded St. Louis bolted from the car to try to get medical help, Roland said her legs failed her as she tried to climb into the passenger seat to escape from Moore. He went to the other side of the vehicle, tried to pull her out and repeatedly beat her with what she later found out was his gun.

Moore finally left her for dead, she said. Prosecutors said other witnesses will testify that he expressed regret when he discovered she was still alive and tried to get his hands on a gun to go back and finish her off.

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The weeks before he shot her were frightening, she said, though she told him to go "live your life" and to be happy with his new girlfriend.

He called and texted her "all day long from morning to night" until she blocked his number, she testified. He phoned her work number at the Hallandale Beach insurance office. He called and sent her messages from other people's phones and via Facebook, sometimes pretending the texts were from relatives or mutual friends.

In the messages, which started some days about 5 a.m., he tried to interrogate her about people he thought she might be dating and tried to cajole her into calling him. Whether she ignored him or responded, the messages kept coming, often minutes apart.

On Nov. 30, 2014, she had attended a party with St. Louis. When they returned to her Lauderhill home after 3 a.m., they found Moore had broken in and was passed out on her bed, with a gun on his chest.

Roland and her new boyfriend crept out of the house and called 911. Police arrested Moore and he was jailed briefly before qualifying for an automatic bond without having to appear in front of a Broward judge.